Best audiophile switch

[kennyb123]

While I haven't conducted any formal testing, I suspect that acoustically, these hollow boards might not be the best choice.

Well of course a $21.99 cutting board is not the best choice for audio. The audiophiles who have actually tried them though, tend to come away with the impression that they deliver one heck of a bang for the buck.

I had been so impressed with what I heard from the various bamboo cutting boards, that a few years back I purchased a Quadraspire rack with bamboo shelves. I was left with a pile of cutting boards that were leftover after that.

That Typhon sitting on the floor was not a component I was planning to purchase. I got incredibly lucky in that a member here offered it at a price I could not refuse. The APTITLIG cutting board underneath it was just a stopgap as I didn’t want to place the Typhon directly on the carpet. I couldn’t be happier with the bang for the buck I got from the Typhon sitting on that $21.99 cutting board.

 

[Superdad]

I had been so impressed with what I heard from the various bamboo cutting boards...

Bamboo is actually pretty good for loudspeaker enclosures also. (Small desktop sizes don't need any bracing, but larger enclosures benefit from some off-midpoint braces of dis-similar material.)

 

[Di-fi]

I couldn’t be happier with the bang for the buck I got from the Typhon sitting on that $21.99 cutting board.

A well-designed rack or board shouldn't alter the sound in any way. My comment is directed at those who use them for that purpose, without really comparing them to solid boards that can effectively stop or absorb vibrations, whether or not they're combined with spikes or other specialized footers. Meanwhile, they put great effort into using footers under other components. It's just an observation to consider looking at things from a different perspective.

 

[Di-fi]

Bamboo is actually pretty good for loudspeaker enclosures also. (Small desktop sizes don't need any bracing, but larger enclosures benefit from some off-midpoint braces of dis-similar material.)

I must admit, I'm not an expert—except perhaps when it comes to also cutting my bamboo speakers in half to investigate. The key idea here is to use sandwiched bamboo panels with large air gaps to prevent vibrations, unlike other panels or boards, which, as far as I know, are solid. These IKEA boards appear solid but are actually not and to some people, they apparently sound great.

I'll leave it at that for now to avoid taking up too much space off-topic here.

 

[kennyb123]

A well-designed rack or board shouldn't alter the sound in any way.

Audiophile tend to seek racks that deliver sound quality benefits. There is no audiophile rack that doesn’t alter the sound because that’s why they exist.

I must admit, I'm not an expert—except perhaps when it comes to also cutting my bamboo speakers in half to investigate.

Might the fact that you didn’t actually evaluate how this cutting board benefits audio limit your understanding of how helpful it can be?

without really comparing them to solid boards that can effectively stop or absorb vibrations

Solid boards ring at their resonant frequency. If you hit it hard with your knuckle you will hear that.

Quoting Roy Gregory from this: “What makes bamboo so effective in the audio world is its structure and the process that allows us to turn what is basically a massive fibrous grass into a flat board. The bamboo itself is formed from long bundles of cellulose fibers, bound together by lignin, a natural thermoplastic resin. The closer to the surface you get, the greater the density of those fibers. The result is not unlike natural carbon fiber, but considerably heavier. Take that structure and cut it into strips that can then be stacked face to face to create a single flat board and you have a random, composite, variable-density material -- which is just about ideal for dissipating mechanical energy effectively without converting it into a single, dominant resonant frequency….”

We are way off topic here so this is my last post on this. Please create another thread if you want to discuss use of a cutting board that you haven’t actually tried under an audio component.

 

[Di-fi]

Audiophile tend to seek racks that deliver sound quality benefits. There is no audiophile rack that doesn’t alter the sound because that’s why they exist.


Might the fact that you didn’t actually evaluate how this cutting board benefits audio limit your understanding of how helpful it can be?



Solid boards ring at their resonant frequency. If you hit it hard with your knuckle you will hear that.

Quoting Roy Gregory from this: “What makes bamboo so effective in the audio world is its structure and the process that allows us to turn what is basically a massive fibrous grass into a flat board. The bamboo itself is formed from long bundles of cellulose fibers, bound together by lignin, a natural thermoplastic resin. The closer to the surface you get, the greater the density of those fibers. The result is not unlike natural carbon fiber, but considerably heavier. Take that structure and cut it into strips that can then be stacked face to face to create a single flat board and you have a random, composite, variable-density material -- which is just about ideal for dissipating mechanical energy effectively without converting it into a single, dominant resonant frequency….”

We are way off topic here so this is my last post on this. Please create another thread if you want to discuss use of a cutting board that you haven’t actually tried under an audio component.

As I mentioned earlier, I will refrain from adding further comments on this topic. However, it seems there may be a tendency to continue the conversation in a particular direction. While you are welcome to guide the discussion as you see fit, I was the one who compared the IKEA board, including cutting it in two. I hope this did not offend any other audiophiles.